


The Singing House

by miss_sonder



Series: Of These Salted Lands I'll Bring Peace [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aangst, And how it came to be, Angst, Big Brother Sokka (Avatar), Childhood Memories, Childhood Stories, Creation, Creations, Cultures, F/M, Folklore, Full Moon, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Growing Up, Hurt, Hurt No Comfort, Inuit culture, Legends, Love, Moon, Moon Spirit - Freeform, Myths and folklore, Northern Water Tribe, Reincarnation, Sacrifice, Sad, Southern Water Tribe, Spirit World, Spirits, Sun Spirit, The Moon - Freeform, The sun - Freeform, Tragic Romance, War, Water Tribe(s) (Avatar), Waterbending & Waterbenders, Young Love, aang only mentioned, inuit myths, myths, the singing house, they're just kids, tradition, world building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:07:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27627221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_sonder/pseuds/miss_sonder
Summary: Based off of the Inuit myth of how the Sun and Moon came to be, and how Sokka fits in between.
Relationships: Sokka/Yue (Avatar)
Series: Of These Salted Lands I'll Bring Peace [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2012413
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	The Singing House

**Author's Note:**

> The Inuit tale is called Sun Sister and Moon brother.

_ There used to be a house, _ Kya would tell her two children,  _ a singing house. _

_ Not this again, _ Sokka would complain as he climbed into his mother’s lap, ready to hear the story once more. 

Katara shoved herself onto her mother’s lap, snuggling in deep to her furs, little legs over her brother. She sighed,  _ Oh, tell me more, Mama. _

And Kya would take a deep breath, memorizing her children’s scents; fresh snow and childhood, and would kiss her son and daughter on their heads before she would begin. She enjoyed how they burrowed closer to her, the way the fire crackled, and the sound of her husband laughing with the villagers just outside the door. 

“Well,” Kya said, she didn’t know that this would be her last time telling this story. If she did, she would have lengthened it, made it more memorable, and would try to add more love, more  _ something _ . “In this village, long before I was born, long before this war, there was a singing house.” 

“And in this village, there lived a brother and a sister, about your age; Sokka and Katara, that loved to play.

Every night Sister found herself in the singing house with her playfellows. 

One night though, when all the lamps in the singing house were extinguished, somebody had came in and outraged Sister. She could not tell who it was, for it was dark, so the next night she cleverly blackened her hands with soot, and when the same thing happened again she besmeared the man’s back with it. When the lights were lit again, she saw her violator was her brother.

In great anger she took a sharpened knife and cut her long, plaited hair, and offered it to her brother. ‘Since you seem to relish me, to enjoy my pain, I am no longer yours.’ She told him.”

Sokka always cut his mother off here, “Mama, why would she want to leave her family?” 

And Kya would always answer with, “Sometimes anger can overtake your heart and soul, Sokka.”

Kya would continue the story then after her two children would settle down. “Brother grew angry as well. Sister fled from him, running about the room, and seized a piece of wood (with which the lamps are kept in order) which was burning brightly and rushed out of the singing house.” 

“Brother took another one but in his pursuit he fell down, and extinguished his light, which continued to glow faintly. Gradually, both were lifted up and continued their pursuit in the sky. Sister transformed into the Sun and Brother transformed into the Moon. 

Whenever the New Moon appears, Sister sings:

(My brother up there, the moon up there begins to shine; he will be bright.

My brother up there, he is coming up there).”

“Are they still chasing each other?” Katara would ask. 

Kya would hum with thought. “Yes, not because they were still angry though. But because they miss each other and love each other.” 

When Sokka looked up at the Moon, only after he was his sister was fast asleep beside him and when he was sure he could hear Aang’s snores, he would think about a story he heard a long time ago.  _ But it wasn’t that long ago, was it? He’s still just a kid _ . 

“Hey, Yue.” He would always greet her. 

_ I miss you. I love you. I’ll keep chasing you _ , is what he wants to say. But he doesn’t. So he burrows into his furs and pretends like it doesn’t hurt. 


End file.
